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Ynysgedwyn Colliery, Fan House is a post-medieval industrial structure built above coal-bearing strata of the Moscovian period. The bedrock comprises the Pennine and South Wales Middle Coal Measures Formations, a sequence of mudstone, siltstone and sandstone interlayered with workable coal seams and bands of ironstone and ferricrete. This geological setting made the site valuable for coal extraction and the associated industrial infrastructure that developed here.
The fan house formed part of the mechanical systems essential to deep coal mining, providing ventilation to underground workings and helping to manage the hazardous accumulation of gases. Fan houses of this type typically contained large machinery driven by steam or electric motors, whose blast drew fresh air through the pit and expelled foul air to surface. The structure's siting at Ynysgedwyn reflects the demands of colliery operation in South Wales, where such installations became increasingly necessary as mines deepened through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
The monument is protected by Cadw, the Welsh monuments authority, under reference BR198, recognising its significance as evidence of Wales's industrial mining heritage and the technological systems that sustained coal production in the region.
Ynysgedwyn Colliery, Fan House is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference BR198. View the official record →
Ynysgedwyn Colliery, Fan House is a post-medieval industrial structure built above coal-bearing strata of the Moscovian period. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Cadw under reference BR198.
Ynysgedwyn Colliery, Fan House dates from the post medieval/modern period, and is classified as a fan house. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Ynysgedwyn Colliery, Fan House is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Cadw — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in Wales. The official designation reference is BR198.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Coed Ddu house platforms and enclosure (4.8 km), Coed Ddu ring cairn (4.9 km), Carn Cornel Round Cairn (5.1 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Ynysgedwyn Colliery, Fan House's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Ynysgedwyn Colliery, Fan House stands on Pennine Middle Coal Measures Formation And South Wales Middle Coal Measures Formation (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Moscovian. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone, sandstone, coal, ironstone and ferricrete.